Richland County Sheriff’s Department Seeks Youth for Explorer Post 601 Program | Arts & Culture

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott extends an invitation to young adults, male or female, who are between 14 and 20 years of age and have completed the eighth grade to become a part of the successful Explorer Post 601 program! This program works to develop and shape our young people into becoming responsible adults and exposing them to the law enforcement field by teaching them discipline, leadership and accountability.

Sheriff Leon Lott states that this mission will be accomplished by teaching our Explorers how to make ethical decisions, maintain physical and mental fitness, develop contacts for future employment options as well as apply policing strategies and problem solving techniques to serve and protect their communities. An Explorer Post is fundamentally a Scout group Chartered by the Boy Scouts of America. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department Explorer Post 601 is a function that puts young people, who are interested in law enforcement, in direct contact with deputies.

Sheriff Leon Lott states that Explorer Post 601 meets at least once a week at 6:00 PM at the Richland County Sheriff’s Department Region 3 Headquarters, 6429 Bishop Avenue, the next meeting is Tuesday, January 15, 2013. Explorers are instructed on different topics related to the law enforcement field including: conducting traffic stops; completing paperwork; investigating traffic collisions; serving warrants; legal knowledge; and physical fitness and many more law enforcement activities. Explorers get hands on experience through a variety of scenarios acted out by other Explorers and Post Advisors. To become an Explorers participant, you must:

• Obtain parent’s permission
• Be between ages 14 and 20 years old
• Must pass all academic courses
• Pass background check
• Be interested in the field of Law Enforcement
• Submit an application and be selected for an interview with Advisors

Sheriff Leon Lott stated that Explorers receive special departmental training to include Homeland Security, Hostage Negotiation, Leadership Training, and Florida Explorer Boot Camp in Umtilla, Florida. Sheriff Leon Lott stated that the benefits to becoming an Explorer are great; you can become an Explorer Post 601 Scholarship recipient, get exposure to real-life law enforcement activities through ride-a-longs with Deputies, establish contacts for future law enforcement employment, plus receive job offers from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department!

For more information please contact Deputy Chavis Hall, Head Post Advisor at 803-513-3396 or explorerpost601@rcsd.net